Once Upon a Time
by Angel of Music lover
Summary: It's Pippin's day to watch the Gamgee children and they beg him for a story. Pippin only knows how to talk about what he knows. So he retells his adventures with his own style.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, this occurred to me randomly (as all stories do) and I hope it's not too random. It was originally going to be a oneshot but then I realized how long it would be and decided that it would be better as a short story. So, please review and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings. **

"Uncle Pippin! Uncle Pippin!" little voices chorused from outside the hobbit hole of one Peregrin Took. It was loud enough for the not-so-young Pippin (as his friends so affectionately called him) to look up from his second breakfast.

A grin spread across his face as he pushed out his chair, snatched a biscuit from his plate, and trotted to get the door. He opened the rather large door (at least, large in comparison) to see several children's faces shining up at him.

"Well, it couldn't be the Gamgee children!" he cried and shook his curly locks. "I wasn't expecting them to come for another hour more!" The children laughed and pulled at his sleeves.

"We came early! We came early!" they told him loudly. Pippin threw his hands in the air and acted as he if were very frustrated.

"Well, I wasn't expecting the Gamgee children for another hour," he insisted. "You shall simply have to come back in an hour!" The children took him as serious and immediately began to plead to be let in.

"Oh, please Uncle Pippin!" they begged, pulling even harder at his sleeves and the cuff of his pants. "We came so early! We wanted to come early!" Pippin finally laughed at them and opened the door wider.

"Well, as you came so early, I will allow you to come in now this one time," he reasoned and the children were so happy. There were only four of them at this point but if Pippin knew Rosie and Sam there would be more on the way. Pippin then realized he had left his second breakfast on the table and quickly rushed to go and save it, luckily he was just in time. He quickly placed it on a high cupboard for later (a hobbit could not waste perfectly good food) and turned to face the chattering children.

"Well, as you are here a whole hour early, what did you plan on doing?" Pippin asked and the children exploded into noise.

"Daddy told us that you knew a good story!" Elanor said eagerly.

"Because he said he was fresh out of stories," Merry (not the elder but the child named after Sam's good friend) explained.

"And we wanted to hear a new one!" Rose exclaimed.

"So could you tell us one?" they asked in unison. Pippin stared down at the faces, slightly taken aback. Sam knew that Pippin was rather terrible at telling stories. He always managed to forget something or stuttered too much or got too off the topic. Sam always just told him to tell about what he knew.

About what he knew…

"Alright, sit down and I'll tell you a story," Pippin agreed and the children dashed into a sitting room. Pippin sighed and followed after, hoping that he didn't ruin his own story.

"What is it going to be about?" the girl asked.

"Will it have dragons? Or soldiers? Or talking trees?"

Pippin just smiled at them and nodded.

"It will have everything that a story could ever need," he promised. Then cleared his throat.

"Once upon a time there was a young Baggins that lived quietly in his hobbit hole. He lived with his uncle and they got into all sorts of mischief together…" Before Pippin could continue he was interrupted.

"Daddy told us this story," a young boy said with a sigh. Pippin just smiled at him.

"Not the way I'm going to tell it. Now hush and let me talk." The children fell respectively silent. They probably listened to Uncle Pippin more than they did their father, but they listened to Uncle Merry the most.

Pippin cleared his throat again for dramatic effect and then leaned in towards the children.

"Once upon a time there was a young Baggins that lived quietly in his hobbit hole. He lived with his uncle and they got into all sorts of mischief together…"

**A/N: So… good? Bad? Let me know! The actual story telling will happen in the next chapter. **


	2. Fireworks

**A/N: Alright, I'm back again and having way too much fun with this story. The story telling begins! **

**Just so everyone knows, the story will probably **_**mostly**_** be from the movie timeline but I'm going to put stuff from the book in there too. Just for kicks. **

**And also, just in case someone who is reading doesn't know this, I used the first four of Sam's children for this story. The first child is Elanor the Fair, then Frodo Gardner, then Rose, and the youngest is Merry. I only stopped there because the next child would have been named Pippin and that would be too confusing. I'm going to say that… Elanor is ten, Frodo is eight, Rose is six, and Merry is four, about. Which would mean that Pippin would be born as well as Goldilocks but they would be too young for stories. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Lord of the Rings. **

"Once upon a time there was a young Baggins that lived quietly in his hobbit hole. He lived with his uncle and they got into all sorts of mischief together. The hobbit's name was Frodo." Pippin suddenly broke out of his narrating voice and added, "He's my cousin you know. Twice removed on his mother's side."

"We know Uncle Pippin," Elanor said in exasperation, shaking her head. "Daddy _told_ us." Pippin made a face.

"Well, Daddy must tell you all sorts of things!" he snapped and rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance. The children giggled a bit but fell quiet in expectation.

"Now, Frodo's uncle, Bilbo, was going to have a birthday party. He was going to one hundred and eleventy." The children all collectively gasped. "Frodo was running all about preparing gifts for the guests and planning the activities and who would sit where while his uncle just sat around and watched."

"Bilbo was mean," the littlest, Merry, exclaimed, wrinkling his nose in disapproval.

"He wasn't mean. He was old," his brother, Frodo, snapped, rolling his eyes.

"Can I tell the story?" Pippin wondered. The room was once more silent. "Thank you.

Now, you all probably have only heard of Gandalf the Gray from stories from your Dad, but he used to be a widely discussed topic in Hobbiton. Everyone knew about Gandalf's scandalous past and were eager to talk about it." Pippin had to choke back a laugh at his word choice. Scandalous? "And he was an old friend of Bilbo's so he came for the party a few days early. Bilbo was surprised to see him but accepted him into his home. After yelling at him a while because apparently the old hobbit was too lazy to check who was the door before yelling at them."

"How did Bilbo know Gandalf?" the oldest, Elanor, wondered. Pippin grinned.

"You mean your Dad hasn't told you that one yet?" Pippin asked and nearly beamed. "Well, we can hear that one another day. For now, let's keep on track, alright?"

The children nodded. Pippin wondered how often he was going to have to get their attentions back throughout this story.

"So, Bilbo and Gandalf talked about stuff and caught up. And those horrible excuses of Hobbits, Bilbo's cousins, came and bothered them but then went away again because Bilbo and Gandalf were real quiet and they thought no one was home. And then Bilbo and Gandalf continued to talk mysteriously about a Ring that Bilbo had won from a creature named Gollum. The Ring held a mysterious power and Gandalf didn't want Bilbo to keep using it." Pippin might have continued if he wasn't interrupted again.

"Uncle Pippin, this is boring!" Rose declared and heaved a heavy, pointed sigh. Pippin grimaced along with her and nodded his head.

"It's is dreadfully dull, isn't it?" Pippin agreed and hummed to himself. "Unfortunately, some of it is necessary." Rose gave another sigh but waved her small hand to tell him to proceed.

"So, to speed things up a little, Gandalf and Bilbo talked a lot. I would quote them but I wasn't actually there." The children nodded in understanding. "And as they sat there, talking and talking and talking, the day of the party was upon them! Bilbo had to hurry off to be on time for his own party and Frodo went after him, as they share the same birthday after all." Suddenly, a dreamy look came over Pippin's face and he sighed. "And then there were the fireworks."

The childrens' attentions were officially won. They leaned forward in eagerness, eyes shining and little lips quivering.

"Fireworks?" they questioned shrilly. Pippin nodded.

"And what a wonderful batch of fireworks they were," he said and gave another wistful sigh. "Gandalf had brought his famous fireworks to celebrate the birthday and Merry and I spotted it right away." Pippin leaned back into his seat with a blissful expression. "I rummaged through that stack oh so quickly until I found the one. The perfect one to set off without Gandalf knowing, giving Bilbo the best surprise of all! It was large and red."

"Red?" Frodo asked, forgetting that he was the second oldest and not supposed to get wrapped up in the story.

"Red," Pippin affirmed. "And it had a gold trim and it was shaped like a dragon's head."

"Dragon's head?" Merry squealed and his little eyes danced. Pippin could tell that he was going to grow up as mischievous as the Hobbit he was named after.

"Yes, a dragon's head. I knew it was the one the moment my fingers touched it. It was as if it were magic, the way it called out to me and begged to be lit. Merry and I set it off under a tent so that Gandalf wouldn't see, but it only sent the tent flying up into the sky! It soared up into the darkness and nearly brushed the stars!" he cried and pointed up to the ceiling, eyes dancing nearly as much as the children's were.

"Did it explode?" Elanor wondered with surprising curiosity. Pippin laughed but his eyes shone with disappointment now.

"It didn't explode but it went pretty high. And boy, that's not even the actual fireworks!" The children leaned in even more, hanging on to his every word. "True to the way it looked, the fireworks erupted into the shape of a fiery dragon!" The children were still surprised. "It swooped down low on the guests blowing gusts of sparkling fire and chased after Bilbo and Frodo and finally flew off to the night sky! Everyone thought it might come back for more and hid, too afraid and confused to look!"

"But it wasn't really a dragon!" Rose cried and her little hands were curled into fists. Pippin was broke from his excited memory state and quickly put on a smile.

"Of course not! Weren't you listening? It was only a special firework Gandalf had made. It wasn't real!" Pippin gave a little laugh and mussed her hair affectionately. "You are a silly one!"

"So what happened next?" Elanor asked. Pippin laughed.

"Gandalf caught us, that's what happened." Rose gasped.

"Was he terribly angry with you?" she wondered. Pippin nodded and sighed.

"Of course he was! We tampered with his sacred fireworks!" Pippin's face contorted at the memory of the wizard's wrath. "He yanked us by our ears to the unwashed dishes and we washed the dishes until he was satisfied."

The children all squirmed as they imagined their parents making _them_ do the dishes.

"So that's where I heard Bilbo's speech. I had to get some soap out of my ear to hear him properly but I heard him all the same. He said lots of complicated things… I think they were compliments but I'm still not sure to this day."

"They were probably mean," Merry insisted, still sticking by his theory that Bilbo was the villain of this story.

"And then," Pippin continued, leaning into the children again, "He did something spectacular. It was something not even the best of pranksters could have ever pulled off. Bilbo Baggins, a much respected Baggins if I might say so, vanished into thin air." The children's eyes widened as they tried to imagine it. "One moment he was standing up on that platform, talking about a holiday and the next," Pippin snapped his fingers, "He was gone."

"What did he do?" Rose demanded.

"Was it magic?" Frodo tentatively added. Pippin's face looked sad as he answered.

"It was a magic… of a sort," he answered. "Gandalf, _of course_, knew what had happened and he rushed to Bag End to go meet Bilbo before he could leave!" The hobbit children furrowed their brows, not sure what Uncle Pippin meant. "Gandalf, by some force of the Valar that nobody could ever explain, knew that Bilbo had used the ring for his disappearing act. Luckily, he caught Bilbo before he left, because as well all know Gandalf simply can't be wrong!"

"Uncle Pippin?" Elanor ventured, "Did you not like Gandalf?" Pippin pondered the question. He thought of the Mines of Moria, the Palantir, and the ever popular 'Fool of a Took' comment.

"Of course I did! Now stop asking silly questions!" Pippin cleared his throat.

"Now, Bilbo had promised the ring to Frodo and Gandalf had to convince him to keep that promise. Bilbo finally gave up the ring and left to go visit the elves, or so he said. Really, none of us in Hobbiton thought he would make it past the Shire without croaking. The hobbit was one hundred and eleven years old! It would only be natural for him to suddenly die!" The children gasped in horror and even Merry's eyes shone with tears. Pippin hurried to fix his mistake. "Not that that would ever happen to you lot. Or your Dad, or your Mom, or Uncle Merry, or myself."

"What about Uncle Legolas?" Merry asked. Pippin nearly laughed.

"Uncle Legolas is perfectly safe. Now can I continue?

So Bilbo left, leaving Gandalf to stare at the ring and ponder. Which is something he does quite often. He ponders and ponders things. So, finally Frodo managed to beat away the other party guests with his walking stick and found Gandalf sitting in his Uncle's house.

'What's going on?' he asked in his high falsetto. Gandalf looked over at him and said quite seriously.

'Keep it secret. Keep it safe," in his low and booming voice."

"Frodo's voice was high pitched?" the little Frodo wondered, thinking of his own voice. Pippin nodded smugly.

"Very. Now, Frodo was very confused at this point and a little frightened.

'But Gandalf!' he cried. 'What do you mean?' Gandalf just sealed the ring up into an envelope, threw it at Frodo, and then made himself some tea. He was well acquainted with Bilbo's kitchen. Once his tea was done, he and Frodo sat down and had a nice talk. Gandalf told Frodo that he suspected that his Uncle's ring was The One Ring."

"What is that?" Elanor wondered, eyes narrowing suspiciously. She suspected that Uncle Pippin was really just making up the whole thing. Pippin's face grew serious as he answered Elanor's question.

"The One Ring was what everyone called Lord Sauron's ring," Pippin said. "Hasn't your Daddy told you?" The children shook their heads in silence. Pippin wondered if he should really tell such young hobbits this story but decided he would edit it for content. "Once, a long, long time ago there was an evil Sorcerer. His name was Sauron and his heart was black."

"Like Bilbo's?" Merry asked innocently. Pippin shook his head.

"Much, much worse than Bilbo ever could be," he whispered and Merry shivered. "He made many rings of power. He gave some to the elves, some to the dwarves, but he gave the most to men. Because the race of Man was weak."

"King Aragorn isn't!" Elanor snapped stubbornly.

"No, he's not. He was one of the last, good men in the world. And he still is. But this was before King Aragorn; it was his ancestor's time. Now, when Sauron made these rings he made one more. One was the Ring of Power and it was far greater in strength than any others. It listened only to Sauron and this way Sauron began to…" Pippin paused, not wanting to frighten them too badly. "Do bad things." The children were too afraid to ask what bad things they were.

"Frodo was very frightened, and he frightened easily too," Pippin began the story again lightheartedly. "But he knew that Gandalf wasn't sure yet so he kept the Ring for him until Gandalf could find out. And so Gandalf left and Frodo was left to wonder. But not for long."

The children waited patiently for Pippin to continue, but Pippin hopped up to his feet.

"Fancy some cakes?" he asked and began to brightly head to the cupboard. "I'm starving!"

"We want to hear the story!" the children demanded.

"What happens to Frodo?" Rose asked and Pippin laughed.

"You'll hear the story. Now take a cake and eat it and we'll keep going," Pippin promised. "It's going to be a long day of storytelling."

**A/N: Hopefully this lives up to expectations so far! (is nervous) Please review**


	3. Singing, Sniffing, and Tea

**A/N: So, I'm back again. Finally. Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed so far! You guys are awesome!! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pippin, Sam's children, or any of Pippin's story. **

The children took some cakes, grudgingly, from Uncle Pippin and then sat back down angrily. Pippin himself took his time getting his own cake. He sat down leisurely in the chair and lazily chewed. It was enough to make the children explode with anticipation.

"Uncle Pippin!" Merry finally shouted, looking rather cross. "Stop eating and tell a story!" Pippin's eyebrows raised but he finished eating all four of his cakes much quicker.

"No need to shout," he grumbled.

"Just read the story," Elanor demanded, exasperated and tired of her Uncle's antics. Pippin just threw his hands up in the air but continued on with the story.

"So, while all this happened Merry (your Uncle Merry) and I noticed something was odd about Frodo. Samwise (your father) noticed it too. Frodo was very withdrawn and very quiet. He seemed to always be tired and took to carrying that ring around on his neck all the time."

"Wasn't he supposed to hide it?" Rose squeaked, eyes widening. "He broke the rules!" Pippin nodded in agreement.

"He broke the big rule. That he did. Very good Rose!" Rose just beamed, glad that she had proven something to an adult. "So, what we did was we wrote a song for him that we were going to perform at a pub when we were all out together. Because cousins and a gardener always go out together."

"What was the song?" Frodo wondered. Pippin smiled and got to his feet.

"Maybe you've heard it," Pippin hinted and cleared his throat. And then he began to sing merrily in his high and clear voice, dancing around the chair with high spirit.

"Oh you can search far and wide,

You can drink the whole town dry!

You'll never find a beer so brown-

But you'll never find a beer so brown-

As the one we're drinking in our town!

You can kick your fancy ales!

You can drink 'em by the flagon!

But the only brew for the brave and true…

Comes from the Green Dragon!"

The children laughed and giggled and demanded that Pippin sing it again. So, he did though with a little less spring in his step. He wasn't as young as he used to be you know. But the children helped him by laughing and dancing and singing along (at least, they sang along with the words that they knew). Before Pippin knew it, they were having a full out dance party!

But little bodies have little energy.

"That's a good song!" Merry declared, flopping onto his backside after he had danced himself into an oblivion. "Did you really write it for Frodo?" Pippin flopped down next to the little hobbit while the other children followed their lead.

"You bet," Pippin said, nodding his head for emphasis. "Poor old Frodo was so down in the dumps, we figured he could use a laugh." Pippin grinned. "And, there was a bit of a competition going on between us younger hobbits. The ones who wrote the best drinking song got two free rounds of ale."

"What's ale?" Rose wondered innocently. Pippin frowned.

"Something that you don't need right now," he lectured, wagging a finger. "Don't be so eager."

"So what happened next?" Frodo prodded, encouraged by Elanor.

"Well, Merry and I began to dance on the table and sing our song. And sure enough, Frodo lit right up and laughed with us. But apparently, something drastic happened that night when he returned to Bag End. I could never tell you what exactly happened but I can tell you that Gandalf had sent him and Sam on a dangerous, mysterious quest." Pippin was suddenly indignant. "And they were going to leave us behind!"

"Well…" Elanor began but then stopped short. Pippin, however, was curious.

"Well, what?" he asked. "What was it you were going to say?"

Elanor bit her lip before finishing her sentence. "What could you have done?"

Pippin was very tempted to ruin the end of the story for the children just to prove that he was useful. Luckily, the cakes had appeased his temper and he was full on patience.

"Well, without us, who would have gotten Frodo and Sam good mushrooms?" Pippin replied, unable to hide the snap in his voice.

"So, when we heard the Old Took talking about how he saw two hobbits leaving the borders of Hobbiton the next morning we were naturally very, very surprised and concerned. Which is why we went straight to Bag End to see if Frodo or Sam was there. They weren't."

"What did you do?" Merry asked.

"We decided to try and cut through country to catch up with them. The Old Took said that it looked like they were headed toward the fields so that's where we tried to go." Pippin grinned. "Luckily, Samwise was so slow that it didn't take long."

"Daddy said something about how you had food with you," Frodo said suspiciously. "Did you bring that from home?" Pippin paused, unsure of how to answer.

"W-well," he stuttered. "We found it. All of it."

"You stole it?" Rose asked shrilly, her eyes bulging again.

"No, no… we found it," Pippin insisted stubbornly. "On an abandoned farm."

"Were they happy to see you?" Elanor asked.

"Of course!" Pippin paused. "Well, you know, Frodo seemed a little annoyed and was hiding something from us and Sam kept muttering about how we ruined the trip. But otherwise, they seemed in a jolly good mood."

"Daddy said that you two made him and Mr. Frodo fall off a cliff," Frodo added stubbornly.

"Actually, that was your Daddy's fault. You see, we all would have made it if he had been paying attention when he was running and hadn't run into us," Pippin replied good-naturedly. "But who's keeping score?"

"Well, after we had ourselves all gathered and we had stuffed our pockets full of mushrooms that were growing innocently on the side of the road, we were all set to go. But Frodo was acting strange, staring down the road with a distant expression. Like this." Pippin then opened his eyes very, very wide and stared off at a wall with his head tilted to one side, mouth slack and his face expressionless.

"That's scary," Merry finally squeaked and Pippin snapped out of it.

"I know. It is. But that's exactly how my cousin Frodo looked just then, staring down the road. Next thing we knew, he was yelling at us to get out of the road and it was if the air got very cold. We all obeyed, even though there were more mushrooms left to be gathered, and hid underneath a tree," Pippin continued.

"You left perfectly good mushrooms on the side of the road?" Rose squealed, looking ready to scold the hobbits in the story for wasting mushrooms.

"I know," Pippin agreed mournfully. "But it was a necessary sacrifice for what we were about to face. I wouldn't have wanted to be on the road for that, I tell you."

"What was it?" Elanor screeched, thoroughly frightened but curious at the same time. Pippin studied the terrified faces before him before shaking his head.

"Nah, you don't want to hear this," he decided, shaking his head again. "It's too scary for you." The children fiercely shook their heads but their Uncle was persistent.

"Please, Uncle Pippin!" Rose pleaded, nearly on her knees and going insane with the curiosity.

"We won't get scared!" Frodo promised, his pinkie sticking out for a pinkie promise.

"We'll be brave," Merry agreed, his lower lip jutting out in determination.

Well… how could Pippin say no to such a lot?

"Alright, I'll tell you," Pippin relented, leaning forward again. "But if you get too scared, just tell me." The children nodded their consent. "Coming down the road was what sounded like a horseman," Pippin began, "But he was going at a very slow walk. A dead walk, actually. And the whole world seemed to freeze over and for the first time I was _scared_. I didn't know what it was but the horse's hooves came into view." The children held their breath in dreadful anticipation. "The hooves were bloodied and the skin above them cut, nails digging into the poor creature's feet. It blew its breath out as if it were a dragon and the metal on its headset clanked hollowly."

"Was there a rider?" Frodo asked, blue eyes wide in terror. Pippin ignored him, too wrapped up in the memory to even hear the child's question.

"And then there was the sniffing," he whispered, shivering in terror. "The rider was concealed from us but we could hear it sniffing. It was like it was a big, fierce dog sniffing out rabbits in a rabbit hole. And we were just as helpless as those rabbits. We were all frozen in fear."

"How did you survive?" Rose asked in a trembling, low voice. Pippin seemed to notice the children were there again and he sighed, breaking the trance.

"Merry thought quick and threw our bag of mushrooms far away from the tree we were hiding in," Pippin recalled, nodding. "Good old Merry was always quick on his feet. But I had nightmares of that freakish sniffing for weeks after the fact. It was the thing that stuck with me, even today."

The children sat in solemn silence. Then,

"Is this a happy story, Uncle Pippin?" Elanor asked softly, her large eyes questioning and fearful. Pippin stopped staring at the wall to look at her, smiling kindly.

"Of course it is, in the end. They are always sad in the middle," Pippin explained. "But it will all work out. I promise." The children believed him.

"So after the Rider left, we all made a run for it. And boy, did we have to run. Merry also had the idea of running for the river to Buckleberry Ferry so that we could ride all the way to a friend's house. He thought we would be safe there." Pippin paused and shook his head. "They followed us. I don't recall how many there were but the hoof beats of their thundering, huge horses were deafening." Pippin took another pause, remembering. "We nearly lost Frodo, too. We didn't know why then, but they were after him."

"But he made it," Frodo said cautiously, hoping he was right.

"Of course," Pippin replied. "He managed to break away and reached the ferry just in time! We were afraid we would have to swim back and get him. And you know that hobbits can't swim worth anything. But after a few breathless moments Frodo was coming towards us and he was safe again. The horses didn't dare go in the water after him. I still don't know why to this very day."

"Where did you go?" Rose asked, now feeling less afraid because the Riders were out of the story for now.

"To Fatty Bolger's house," Pippin replied with a laugh, now glad that he was moving to a happier time. "Poor Fatty, no one ever remembers him. But he was a good friend and took us without questions."

"What did Merry do?" the little Merry asked, wanting to know more about the hobbit he was named after. In his opinion, Merry was the best character so far besides his Daddy and Uncle Pippin.

"He figured out the secret," Pippin replied with an impish grin. "He remembered something odd from when Bilbo was still in Hobbiton. He remembered how not long before the party Bilbo had been walking down the street when some frantic looking hobbits were flocking towards him. Merry saw him pull out a ring from his pocket and slip it on, vanishing from sight." The children gasped, not seeing this plot point coming. "When the other hobbits were gone Bilbo was back, never aware that Merry was on the same road."

"I bet Frodo was surprised," Rose laughed.

"You bet he was," Pippin confirmed. "He was so surprised he gave away most of his mission. He was to take the One Ring of Power to Rivendell, the home of the…"

"Elves," Frodo finished promptly. "Daddy loves to talk about that place." Pippin could see the same gleam of fascination in Frodo's eyes that he had seen in Sam's when he learned that they were to go see the elves.

"Very good!" Pippin praised. "Your Dad would know all about the elves.

"Now, we very much enjoyed staying at Fatty's home but unfortunately it couldn't last. We stayed far too long." Pippin knew that he had them hooked. He had them reeled in like a nice, fat fish but he could tell that the story had them too excited. He had to created a quick diversion. "Fancy some tea? I'm quite thirsty after all that talking and eating cake and all. I always have to wash it down with a nice cup of steaming tea."

"Uncle _Pippin_," Elanor protested, looking quite cross indeed.

"I'm an old hobbit!" he declared, "Tea is good for my health!"

"You're not that old," Elanor argued. "And tea has never been proven to be good for anyone's health!" Pippin shrugged.

"I'm making tea. End of discussion," he decided and pranced off to the kitchen. "There's a draft in this hole. Samwise would cheerfully murder me if he knew that I let you all stay cold in here and get sick."

"It's not-" Elanor began but her brother, Frodo, hushed her.

"Stop arguing," he complained. Elanor rolled her eyes but stayed quiet.

"This story better be worth it," she grumbled, crossing her arms and glaring at Pippin's back.

**A/N: So… good? Bad? Okay? Let me know!**


	4. Book Universe Galore!

**A/N: So, I'm finally back again. I want to thank you all again for the wonderful reviews. I'm very pleased to already have 20 for three chapters and each one has been incredibly helpful to me. So, thanks ya'll! **

**And also, there's quite a bit of book usage in this chapter. Hopefully this isn't confusing for someone who might not have read the book (and if you haven't I suggest you do. ;D). **

**Plus, a brief cameo from Pippin's wife and son! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. **

"This water is hot," Merry pointed out as he held a mug in his hands, scrunching his eyebrows together. Pippin looked over at him curiously and instantly realized his mistake. The hot tea would surely burn and injure the youngster and Pippin was quick to protect his nephew.

"Oh, I forgot, Merry," Pippin said sweetly, nearly scrambling over to grab the steaming mug from the little hobbit's fingers. "This was supposed to be for me." Merry relinquished the mug easily, much to the surprise of Pippin, and said nothing more about the matter.

"So what happened?" Frodo demanded, setting his own tea to the side to let it cool and staring up at Pippin expectantly. "Did the Riders come back?"

"No, stupid," Elanor snapped. "Frodo fell in _love!_" Pippin snorted discreetly and was about to jump in with the actual story but the children wouldn't let him talk.

"I bet the Ring exploded!" Rose added with a somewhat unnerving gleam in her eyes. Pippin started to worry about her infatuation with exploding objects. He would mention it to Sam and Rosie later.

"Bilbo was sent to the corner!" Merry insisted with a knowing nod. Pippin was nearly exasperated now.

"I can tell you all, with the utmost certainty, that none of those happen," Pippin declared. The room fell silent and Pippin realized something. "Oh wait… actually… Frodo is right." Frodo pumped his fist in the air and shot an 'I told you so!' look at Elanor. Pippin ignored this display of sibling rivalry and continued with the story.

"We were having a lovely dinner, filled with mushrooms… sweet delicious scrumptious mushrooms. When suddenly we heard it. It was a warning bell. Someone unknown had entered the border of Buckland."

"The Riders!" Merry squealed knowingly.

"Yes. We all knew that it was time for us to make our hasty leave. It was Frodo who decided that we were to leave the next morning, early, but we were not to go by a road. Frodo reasoned that this would be far too dangerous and that it would be safer to go cross-country. But the only way out of Buckland without a road is to cross through the Old Forest."

"I've heard of that," Elanor began slowly. "I think Uncle Merry told us about it once."

"He probably did," Pippin agreed, "He knew all about that old place. Quite spooky actually, it was one of my least favorite places to travel through. Merry told us how the trees seemed to live and breath just like hobbits do. That they play little tricks on travelers by dropping branches on them or whispering to each other in a most frightening way." Pippin paused before saying what else he knew to be true about the Old Forest. "But the worst sort of trouble that forest gave us was the trees moved about, making it difficult for us to know which way was forward or backwards!"

"Why were they so mean?" Merry asked, his lower lip jutting out.

"They weren't mean, they were old like Bilbo," Frodo explained, exasperated.

"Oh," Merry concluded.

"We spent so long there it was hard to measure. We just knew we had to go where Frodo told us, and we happened to need to be in the Prancing Pony Inn in the town of Bree. So we wandered through the Forest, trying to escape the ever present and stifling trees to find out way out of there." Suddenly, Pippin perked right up and he smiled broadly. "It's a good thing we ran into Old Tom Bombadil. That man is right helpful in a fix."

"Who's Tom Bom-bom-… Bom…" Rose stuttered before Pippin just put her out of her misery.

"Tom _Bombadil_ was a huge man with a great big voice who lived in the area. He found us in The Old Forest and decided to give us a hand." Pippin didn't mention that Tom saved them from being smothered by an evil willow tree. It would be too difficult to explain. "He seemed very fond of singing songs and took us back to his home to let us wash up and regain our bearings."

Pippin blushed as he remembered Tom's wife and tactfully skipped past her. He doubted he could even mention that old Bombadil had a wife without stuttering and the little hobbits would never let him live it down.

"So, we finally made it out of the Old Forest, dark, stinky, horrible place that it was, and found ourselves on a road to Bree. And what was even nicer was that Tom gave us a nice set of ponies for our trip!"

The children immediately began to clamor the moment that the word 'ponies' had passed Pippin's lips.

"Ponies!"

"What did they look like?"

"What did they act like?"

"Were they friendly?"

"Were they fuzzy?"

"Did they have flowers in their manes?"

"Were they able to talk?"

"Hey now! Hey now!" Pippin hollered, trying to calm the children down once more. "They were just furry little animals that were able to transport us. I don't remember what they all looked like. I'm pretty sure they were friendly, though one did take a snap at me once. And the weather was a little chilly so, yes, they were fuzzy. But no they did not have anything but hair in their manes and they did not have the ability to speak. _And that is it about the ponies_."

The children stared at him in awe, still unable to believe that their Uncle Pippin had ridden a real live pony. They had a whole new respect for him.

"Now, as I was saying, we were headed toward the town of Bree. Interesting men they've got up there. All short and stout and hairy and they drink like there's no tomorrow. Frodo said that we were supposed to meet Gandalf up there and he was very eager to get to the Prancing Pony Inn. Seemed to think that all of our troubles would be resolved then and there. In fact, we were so excited about Gandalf that we nearly forgot about the Riders. Luckily, we'd had a good head start but we worried about poor old Fatty every day." Pippin took a deep breath before continuing on. The children were respectfully silent.

"Well, it started to rain and we were sad about that but we made it the rest of the way without any mishaps." Pippin again omitted part of the story. Sam would have his head if he knew that he had told them about what else the hobbits had encountered in the dreadful forest. "The ponies were helpful and we made excellent time once we could get them past a slow walk." Pippin could tell he was once more losing the children's interest and quickly sped up the story. "So we got there, met the creepy gate keeper, made our way through the town at night and came upon The Prancing Pony."

"You had lots of pony experience," Elanor pointed out. Pippin gave her a bit of a look that told her to shush and continued on in the story.

"So we got in, checked in with old Butterbur, who ran the place, and asked him if he'd seen Gandalf." Pippin leaned in towards the children and withheld his words as the children unconsciously leaned forward as well. "And he hadn't seen him for months." The children gasped. "Gandalf wasn't there and Frodo was helpless. So, to help him drown his sorrows, we bought Frodo some rounds of ale and tried to joke and laugh. Poor old Frodo was too upset though." Pippin paused and gave a snort. "Then Frodo got hopelessly drunk."

"Daddy got drunk once," Rose noted. "He said some funny things." Pippin raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"That's nice. Anyway, Frodo stood up on a table and began to sing the most ridiculous song I had ever heard. Which makes sense since Bilbo was the one who taught it to him."

"How did it go?" Frodo demanded, eyes sparkling with the hope of another song being sung.

Pippin sighed and leaned back, racking his memory.

"I can't quite remember all of it. But I do remember this little bit." Pippin cleared his throat and then began to sing. "There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, and there they brew a beer so brown that the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill." Pippin paused. "Or something like that. Anyway, I remember a good deal of nonsense about a dog and some silverware and a bit about a fiddle and a cat. And I believe at some point a cow jumped over the moon." The children giggled and their eyes shone with wonder.

"A cow can't jump over the moon," Elanor declared with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, tell that to Bilbo," Pippin retorted and Merry laughed loudly. He still wasn't over Bilbo. "So, the men in the bar enjoyed the song so much that they had him sing it several times more. And then something dreadful happened." Pippin paused dramatically. "When Frodo was dancing down the table he slipped and fell and by some evil force the Ring slipped onto his finger, making him invisible!" The children cried out, all merriment forgotten. "Frodo didn't know he was invisible at first but when he saw the strange stares and outraged cries of the men he soon realized it. He tried to cover it up but it was too late. So, to avoid the stares, we bought some rooms and went up for the night.

"Then we met the scariest man I had yet to see."

"What about the Riders?" Elanor reminded him.

"They weren't men," Pippin explained patiently. "The man that came into our room was a real flesh-and-blood Man. I had never really met someone so large as him and he was so… rough!"

"Did he hurt you?" Merry asked, wide-eyed and clutching at a blanket. Pippin laughed and shook his head.

"No, but his stench was overwhelming. I suspect he hadn't showered in weeks and each moment he was in the room I was becoming light-headed. But he had such a presence, like he was a king." Pippin stifled back a smile. "He immediately rounded on Frodo, wanting to know how he pulled off such a vanishing trick. We all seemed to know that he knew about the Ring and Frodo didn't try very hard to throw him off our path. He then introduced himself as Strider and a friend of Gandalf the Gray. Said that Gandalf had told him about a hobbit carrying the Ring and to keep an eye out for us."

"Was he telling the truth?" Rose asked, remembering her 'stranger danger' lessons. "You can't just go off with anyone because they say they know someone you do."

"He had a letter," Pippin explained quickly, "A letter from Gandalf himself to this Strider fellow. We didn't have a choice but to trust him." Pippin paused. "Especially when he suspected that the Riders were coming that very night and that we had to hide ourselves. So, we devised a--"

"What did Strider look like?" Elanor interrupted. Pippin paused in the middle of his sentence, thrown off by her sudden and random question. "You haven't described him at all except that he was smelly. It's easier to imagine if you describe him." Pippin stared at her blankly but complied after a moment of thought.

"Well… he was rather tall. As all Men are to us hobbits. And he had long, dark hair and some stubble on his chin." Pippin paused, trying to think of how to correctly illustrate his old friend. "He carried a rather odd sword, it was broken, and his clothing was mostly black with some dark brown. He was a Ranger, you see, and had to dress to blend into his surroundings. He had rather dark, intimidating eyes, and a way of speaking too quickly for us to follow, but he gave us all a rather safe feeling." Rose stared at him, mesmerized. "Is that good enough for you?" Rose nodded, a little-girl crush suddenly forming on this Strider fellow. He sounded dashing.

"So, we devised a plan to outwit those evil Riders. We set up pillows in our beds so it appeared that all four of us were slumbering peacefully and then we really went into Strider's room to stay the night." Pippin sighed. "Poor old round little Butterbur. He had no idea that that lot would be coming into his inn and was probably frightened to death! But we could not help it at that point. To leave would have certainly mean to be tracked down on the road and we at least stood a chance by standing our ground.

"It was that night that we learned more about the Ring. Strider seemed to know so much about it. He told us, first, that the Riders were really called Nazgul and that they were once kings of Men long ago. They were once powerful before they greedily fell for Sauron's trap and they were His minions now. The power of the Ring drew them and called to them, meaning as long as Frodo had the Ring he would never be safe."

"That's horrible!" Rose cried, her face showing alarm. "Those poor Men. Forced to work like slaves! And poor Frodo!" Pippin nodded agreeably.

"Poor Frodo indeed! He didn't know what he was going to do with himself! That night, none of us could sleep. Well, actually," Pippin blushed, "I slept quite well. But Merry did too! But Frodo and Sam and Strider stayed up all night, listening. And they came. I even woke up because of their horrible screaming. It was unreal. A high pitched screeching that sent shivers up and down each of our spines. They were outraged. They had fallen for our decoy! And much to our surprise… they left."

"Just like that? That was it?" Frodo gasped, a little disappointed. Pippin shrugged.

"I guess they gave up easily or something. But they just left, trying to catch up with us I suppose. I'm still shocked that we didn't all die that night. But, we lived another day and all was sunshiney and bright! Strider said that he was to escort us to Rivendell and told us to leave as early as possible in the morning. So, we did, and we left all of Tom's ponies and told them to return to their master. But we found another pony, named Bill!"

"Did _this one _talk?" Rose asked, voice radiating a vibrant hope. Pippin gave her a look.

"We ended the pony discussion long ago Rose. But no, this one did not talk either." Rose pouted but remained silent. "So, we went out with our new pony, Bill, and we left the town. Aragorn told us he was going to take us," Pippin suddenly jutted out his chin, squared his jaw, and said in a deep, manly voice (in an imitation of Strider), " 'Into the wild.'" The children giggled at his silliness, except for Elanor who scowled at the mockery of her one true love. "We weren't sure what that meant, of course, but we had no choice but to trust him.

"So he led us through bogs, fields, woods, and plains, and still we walked. We walked and walked and walked for days it seemed! Poor Merry was driven mad by mosquitoes and I myself was having a hard time with the long traveling days. Frodo looked as tired and afraid as ever and Sam constantly hovered over him like a concerned mother bird, squawking and clucking at him all the time."

The children giggled, imagining their Daddy as a giant, fussy bird. Pippin too smiled, thinking about it. It had been humorous then for all of them. Oh the old days…

"Strider was a tough leader. He did not allow us to mosey about everywhere or stop to stare at the scenery. He drove us forward fiercely and without rest most days. Then we reached the infamous Weathertop." Pippin closed his eyes, terror briefly across his face, before he came back to reality. "We got there and Strider told us to stay hidden while he went to go and get his bearings. He believed we were close to Rivendell but he wasn't quite sure. So when he left, we were not sure what to do.

"Well, Frodo and Sam went straight to sleep, keeping the swords that Strider gave us close, and we didn't hear another peep out of them. Well, Merry and I were very hungry and we happened to have some tomatoes and meat in Sam's pack…" Pippin waggled his eyebrows at the children and he sighed at the thought of the delicious food. "And we also had the means for a fire. So, we started one up and took a pan and began to cook up a decent meal. Well, this woke Sam up and though he protested at first, one look at Frodo's worn face convinced him that a meal would do him some good."

"Wouldn't fire attract attention?" Frodo wondered. Pippin gaped at him a little and shook his head in amazement.

"Just like the hobbit you were named after," Pippin declared, ruffling Frodo's dark hair. "That was exactly what he said when he woke up. No hobbit can ignore the smell of wonderful, warm food. When he saw the fire though he had a spasm or something. He stomped it out with his very feet and knocked our pan full of food right over." Pippin paused, remembering. "It turned out he was right though. We heard a familiar screech in the night and Merry and I realized what a horrible mistake we made. The Riders were closing in on us." The children gasped, fear entering their expressions once more.

"What did you do?" Rose asked, eyes wide and clutching onto the hand of her little brother, Merry.

"We ran up to the top of the strange structure, realizing that it was open up there. We had nowhere else to turn. Sadly, this did not throw the Riders off our trail and they followed us straight up. Sam, Merry, and me all tried to stand in front of Frodo, trying to make up for our mistake, but it was no use. The Riders knocked us straight over and went after Frodo. I had never been more terrified in my life," Pippin said, shuddering and knowing that this was not the only terrifying moment he had experienced. "I could only watched as eight of them all formed a wall, blocking us from Frodo. One of them went forward, only one, and advanced on Frodo menacingly.

"Frodo was obviously panicking, backing up until he reached a stone wall. He trembled and his sword fell from his hand. And just when we were sure he was doomed, Frodo did something he should not have. He put on the Ring, hoping it would make him invisible from Them. Now, Frodo never talked about what happened when he put on the Ring but hearing his estranged screams of terror was enough to chill me right down to the bone. It looked like the Rider was talking to him, some strange language it was too, but he did a horrific thing. He stabbed his long sword in the area Frodo had been and I heard the most terrible screaming, second only to the sound of the Riders."

"Where was Strider?" Elanor cried, not willing to believe that her hero would abandon the hobbits without a prayer or hope of escape.

"He came just in the nick of time," Pippin explained, a lightness entering his previously dark face. "He ran straight up with his sword and a torch, confronting the Riders in a way that us hobbits could not. Somehow in the mix, Frodo's ring came of and we saw him on the ground, wailing, but we could not see blood or any source of wound. Sam ran to him, of course, and Merry and I simply got out of Strider's way.

"He was magnificent. He used his sword and fire to drive the beasts away and they soon disappeared. For now, anyway. We didn't know when he would return or what was wrong with Frodo. We could make anything of his horrible pain or why the sword that the Rider who stabbed him had disappeared, except for the hilt."

As Pippin finished this last bit, the door to the hobbit hole suddenly opened. The Gamgee children, convinced it was a Rider come to get its revenge, screamed loudly and shrilly and jumped to their feet.

"Frodo's here!" Elanor cried and shoved her younger brother forward. Elanor herself then went and ducked behind Pippin along with Rose and Merry.

"What?" Frodo nearly screamed and dashed back with his siblings, shaking. Would they really go after him because he had the same name as the hobbit of before?

"Hello?" a baffled female voice called from the doorway. "What's going on in there?"

Pippin grinned and shook the hobbit children off his leg.

"Come now, it's only Diamond," Pippin laughed, though he tried to hide the fact that he too had been shaking with irrational fear. "Come on in my wife! The Gamgee children are over!"

A small hobbit lass came through the door then, toting a small baby, and looking at the children in amusement.

"Well how is _that_ for a welcome," she chuckled and walked through the story-telling room quickly. "Don't worry about me, I'm just coming through to get Faramir a change of clothes before going back to Merry's to talk with Estella," Diamond explained, stepping lightly through the dazed children. "He's been rolling in something strange and these clothes need to be washed."

Pippin's face lightened up at the mention of Merry.

"Is Merry home?" he asked casually, following his wife through the hallway.

"Yes, and he's bored to tears with our talk," Diamond answered and chuckled. "Poor bloke, he has got nothing to do."

"Tell him to come over when you get back there," Pippin told her, grinning. "Tell him I'm telling a story to the Gamgee children and that he might also enjoy it." Diamond looked at the now relaxed children and raised an eyebrow.

"Is it _that _story?" she asked, a small frown on her lips. "Isn't it a little much for that lot?" Pippin scoffed, looking back in on the children.

"They love it!" he insisted. "But don't worry, I've edited some of it." Diamond smiled at him.

"Good. Let's keep it that way." With that, she grabbed the fresh clothes and quickly whipped off Faramir's dirty clothes to save them for a wash. In a flash, the new clothes were on and she was halfway to the door. "I'll tell Merry to come over for you," she promised.

Pippin hurried over before she could leave and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek as a farewell before looking down at his son. "Faramir," he instructed, "Stop rolling in strange things. Mommy has enough to deal with." Diamond laughed and was out the door, waving behind her to Pippin. Pippin grinned and went back inside.

"Uncle Merry is coming," he announced. "We should make some cakes for him, don't you think?" For once, the children did not protest the distraction from the story. If Uncle Merry was coming, they _had_ to do something nice for him. "Oh, he'll be so pleased," Pippin promised and soon helped the children pull out flour for the small cakes.

He loved visits from Merry.

**A/N: A longer chapter I think, which is what took me so long to update I suppose. Please review!**


	5. Glorfy and Cakes

**A/N: I really have no excuse except for lack of inspiration. It's been over a month though (it's been many, many months actually) and I wanted to try and update again. I guess I just needed time away from this story to try and get it back into my head what I wanted to do with it. So, I really am sorry. Hopefully this update will make it up to anyone who still happens to be reading this. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR. **

As the cakes that the hobbits had made were baking, sending a sweet aroma into the air, the children once more clustered around Uncle Pippin.

"So, what happened next?" Elanor asked, settling comfortably back into her spot on the floor. Pippin raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, I don't think we should continue the story until Uncle Merry gets here," Pippin explained. He hadn't expected the wrath that this statement would cause.

"You can't stop _there!_" Rose shrieked. "Does Frodo live?"

"What are you trying to do, kill us?" Frodo added, no longer really concerned with acting cool.

"Tell the story!" Merry demanded.

This soon became the chant of the children as they pressed even closer to Pippin. "Tell the story! Tell the story! Tell the story! Tell the story!"

"Okay!" Pippin yelped, taking a step back. "I'll tell you some more of the story!"

The children were appeased and sat back down, watching Pippin expectantly.

"We were all baffled by the disappearing sword, except for Strider. He explained that it was a poisonous blade. If a living being was pierced by the blade then the person (or in this case, hobbit) would slowly be turned into something similar to a Wraith."

"Frodo!" Rose cried, her hand clapping over her mouth to stifle the noise.

"But what happened to them?" Elanor asked. Pippin shrugged.

"I dunno. For all that I know, they could have been back at the Prancing Pony Inn ordering some ales to drown their sorrows in. They were just _gone_," Pippin tried to explain.

"That's not a good answer," Elanor pointed out. Pippin just ignored her.

"But then a good old elf came around," a voice echoed from the doorway. Pippin stood and turned to see Merry standing in the entry way to his hobbit hole, smirking. "So you're telling _that_ story are you?"

"What other story is there?" Pippin asked with mock seriousness.

"Just make sure that you point out everything that we did that was right," Merry instructed and walked further into the hobbit hole. "These kids need to see the real side of things."

"Uncle Merry!" Merry squealed and he sprinted towards the older hobbit. The others quickly followed suit as they latched themselves onto various parts of the older Merry's body.

"Oh, well it's the Gamgees!" Merry cried out in delight as if he hadn't already known. "Well, how is your old Father?"

"Father is well," Elanor replied with a serious tone to her voice. She had hoped it made her sound older.

"Good, good," Merry replied with a smile. "Well, what is that delicious smell?" he asked as he finally smelled the cakes that the children and Pippin had made. "And please tell me that it's for me."

"We made cakes," Pippin explained and motioned to the kitchen. "Go ahead and grab one or three." Merry nodded and tried to walk casually to the kitchen, although his old friend could see the slight urgency in his steps. Pippin rolled his eyes. Merry was the best kind of hobbit.

"Please, continue," Merry called from the kitchen. "I'm listening."

"Alright then," Pippin said and motioned the children back to their previous reading area. "Where did I leave off before Uncle Merry came?"

"Frodo was dying!" Rose announced as she plopped down on the ground.

Pippin had to fight back a laugh at her bluntness. "Ah, yes. I remember where we are now.

"Well, suddenly an elf came riding up to our group. I'm pretty sure Strider was shocked but seemed to know the elf." Pippin cast a look at Elanor. "He was very tall, with long blonde hair and was fair in face. Elves are the most beautiful beings in Middle Earth and Glorfindel was no exception."

"Pippin had a crush," Merry said cheerfully as he entered the reading area. Pippin made a face.

"I _did not_. Don't listen to your Uncle Merry, kids. He's crazy."

Merry looked somewhat offended. "_I'm_ crazy?"

"Uncle Pippin!" Rose squealed, "Frodo was dying! Tell me what happens!"

"Yes, yes," Pippin agreed offhandedly. "I'll tell you what happened to Frodo.

"Well, I was being as helpful as I always had been. I've always been a terribly helpful sort of fellow. While everyone stood around staring at Frodo I was the one who was walking around trying to get things done."

Merry snorted in the back of the room but didn't deny Pippin's version of the events.

"Well," Pippin continued, "Strider was asking your Dad about Kingsfoil as it could help slow the poison down in Frodo's blood stream. Sam had no idea what it was though! The poor boy simply could not remember what it was. So I said to him, I said, 'Samwise, isn't that a weed?' Well, Sam just wasn't sure so I was the one who helped Strider look for it."

"Of course Strider knew just what to do," Elanor sighed dreamily.

"Hey, who's the hero of this story?" Pippin asked teasingly. "I am."

"Really?" Merry asked from the back of the room. "Because I remember being quite helpful myself. I was the one that knew that the Kingsfoil had to be boiled in water if it was going to have any effect."

"That's true!" Pippin agreed. "How could I forget? So, we finally figured out what we had to do and Frodo was in a little less pain. But it didn't change the fact that—"

"What about the elf?" little Merry demanded. "You said something about an elf."

"Yes, Pip," big Merry smirked, "What about your boyfriend?"

Pippin scowled in his direction. "Well, the elf showed up just in the nick of time. He said that the Wraiths were chasing us," Frodo cowered somewhat, "And that we had to get Frodo out of there as soon as possible. He said that if we didn't act quickly enough then Frodo would turn into one of them."

"No!" Rose cried, overly invested in the fate of Frodo Baggins.

"So, Merry and I wisely suggested that Frodo take the elf's horse over to Rivendell, which wasn't too terribly far from there. Glorfindel agreed, saying that Lord Elrond would be the one to take care of Frodo's wounds."

"I believe he said that our idea might just save Frodo's life," Merry added helpfully as he lit up a pipe.

"You two were so brave," Rose said in awe, looking at her two Uncles in a new light. "I never would have thought to do those things."

"Well, we are two very wise hobbits," Pippin agreed, smiling down at the girl. "So, Frodo took off on the horse while we anxiously followed behind." Then, Pippin paused for dramatic effect. "But it was too late. The Wraiths were already in pursuit of Frodo and he was all by himself on that horse. We didn't know what to do to help him."

"I thought you two were the wisest of all," Elanor said skeptically with a suspicious glance at her two Uncles.

"Well, we couldn't have good ideas _all_ the time, could we?" Pippin asked in an offended tone. "Luckily, we weren't too far behind. Sam was desperate to help his Mr. Frodo and we were all just as concerned. Luckily, we told Glorfy—"

"Who?" Frodo asked in confusion.

"Glorfindel the elf. His name is kind of a mouthful. I would rather call him Glorfy," Pippin explained.

Merry laughed. "I'm sure he would appreciate _that_ very much, Pip."

"No need to tell him," Pippin snapped back. "Anyway, Merry and I told Glorfy that he should find a way to get the river that Frodo was trying to cross to take out the Wraiths as they crossed as well. He said it was a very good idea and used his Elvin magic to create big, majestic soldiers on horses in the water. The watery steeds came and plowed over the Wraiths and their horses." Pippin remembered that the horses of the Wraiths had been drowned but left that particular detail out.

"He used magic?" little Merry asked, wide-eyed. This story suddenly got a whole lot better for him.

"That he did," Pippin agreed. "The elves can do a lot that you would never think of before, you know."

"Did he say a magic spell?" Rose wondered. She was just as captivated by the story as Merry was.

"If I recall," big Merry added from the back, "He didn't need to say a spell. He said a few words in his language and the water was at his command."

"Awesome!" little Merry squealed and his face broke into a wide grin. "I want to learn elvish!"

"I'm sure Uncle Legolas would be more than willing the next time you see him," Pippin promised and tried not to laugh at the image of proud Legolas giving elvish lessons to small hobbit children.

"Wasn't I promised tea?" Merry asked obnoxiously. "I don't think I should have walked all the way down here to not even get some to go with those cakes."

"But Uncle Merry," Elanor whined, "We don't know if Frodo is okay or not! It's going to take all _day_ at this rate!"

"Frodo gets to Rivendell, Lord Elrond does some freaky medicine thing, everyone's okay," Merry told her blandly. "Now can I have some tea?"

Elanor gave him a dirty look. "That wasn't very nice."

"Would a present make up for it?" Merry asked and held out a small beaded bracelet to her. Elanor's anger was immediately forgotten and she dashed over to snatch up the bracelet.

"It's beautiful," she gushed. "Thanks."

"I'll get you some tea," Pippin sighed, knowing that the childrens' attention was officially gone now that presents were being handed out. He couldn't help but smile though. There was something about being with Merry that always put him in a good mood.

**A/N: So, kind of short, but I needed a segway for the next bit. Please review!**


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